Ryan Kaji and his parents Shion and Loann Guan have built one of the most successful channels on YouTube and with it a multimillion-dollar empire.
But what is the story behind their success and what is Ryan Kaji’s net worth?
Who is Ryan Kaji aka Ryan’s World?
Ryan Kaji was born Ryan Guan in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2011.
Kaji’s parents Shion and Loann met while studying at Texas Tech University.
Shion, the son of a microchip executive, moved to the US from Japan when he was in high school.
Loann’s family escaped Vietnam on a boat and moved through refugee camps in Malaysia and Singapore before they made it to the US.
After finishing his degree, Shion went to get his master’s in engineering at Cornell University in New York but returned to Texas within a year, after Loann fell pregnant and Ryan was born. Shion went on to complete his master’s degree online.
Ryan started making YouTube videos at the age of 3 in 2015 after watching other toy review channels and asking his mother: “How come I’m not on YouTube when all the other kids are?”
In his first-ever video, Ryan squatted on the floor of the toy aisle at Target.
He then moved on to unboxing and reviewing toys.
Before going live on YouTube, the family replaced their real-life surname Guan with the on-screen surname Kaji.
Shion and Loann worried about the spiralling cost of constantly buying Ryan toys to play with on YouTube so allocated $20 a week for the channel.
Loann then filmed everything on her phone and edited the videos on her laptop.
Then one video took off and their first paycheck from YouTube was for about $150.
After more success, Loann quit her job as a high school chemistry teacher to work on the YouTube channel full-time.
In 2017, Kaji’s parents signed a deal with PocketWatch – a children’s media startup founded in 2016 by Chris Williams and Albie Hecht.
PocketWatch helped monetise Ryan’s YouTube channels and has brought in a series of lucrative deals.
The same year, Ryan and his parents founded Sunlight Entertainment to help streamline the workflow of Ryan’s World.
Sunlight Entertainment now employs 30 videographers, editors, animators, writers and voice actors to help release about 25 videos a week.
Ryan now has eight YouTube channels including: Ryan’s World, Ryan’s World Español, EK Doodles, Ryan’s Family Review, Vtubers, Combo Panda, Gus the Gummy Gator and The Studio Space.
Across all of Ryan’s channels, he has more than 35 million followers.
As well as these YouTube channels, Ryan has shows on Nick Jr. (the Emmy-nominated Ryan’s Mystery Playdate) and Amazon Kids+ (Super Spy Ryan) and his own streaming channel.
Ryan Kaji and Sunlight Entertainment have gone on to create an app, a line of toys, two video games, and an animated series.
The Ryan’s World slime is sold for $4-5, the action figure is $9, and the squishy toys are $18.
Ryan even has an animated superhero alter ego, Red Titan, which has appeared multiple times in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon.
Now Ryan has aged out of toys, he’s pivoted his channel to make videos about DIY science.
In one video, he could be giving you a tour of the Legoland Hotel; in another, he could be in a pool introducing a science video about tsunamis.
What is Ryan Kaji’s net worth?
In 2017, at the age of just 6, Ryan Kaji became the youngest person to ever make a Forbes top earners list, pulling in $11 million.
By 2021, his revenue had more than doubled to $27 million thanks to advertising sales, merchandise and toy sales.
Ryan Kaji aka Ryan’s World has a net worth of $100 million.